1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for transforming a message containing sensitive information, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for transforming a message by separating sensitive information from the message prior to an untrusted service, for example, a human-assisted translation service.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
One important issue in the communication field is to keep the confidentiality of information when such information is transmitted from one party at a specific location to another party at a different location. This is especially so when information is transmitted over electronic links. Business customers may not use a communication service unless the confidentiality of their messages can be maintained.
In general, various encryption techniques have been developed to ensure that the confidentiality of information is maintained during transmission. However, if any untrusted services are required during the transmission process, the security level of the communication service is compromised and confidentiality of the information is not guaranteed.
One typical example of an untrusted service is when a human-assisted translation service is required during the transmission process. If an original message is composed in the native language of the sender of the message, the message needs to be translated by a translation service before it can be forwarded to the intended recipient. The conventional encryption techniques will not guarantee the confidentiality of the message under such circumstances.
Since fully automatic translation techniques are not yet available for providing high quality translations from one language to another, a bilingual human translator is generally employed to translate the message or at least to check and correct the machine translation. As a result, the human translator must see the message in its decrypted form. This creates a potential security leak. One option is to chop the message into many small pieces, and employ a different human translator to work on each piece. This is undesirable because the translator needs to see a large enough portion of the message to understand the proper context for the message so that he can provide the high quality translation. This in turn defeats the purpose of chopping the message. Although the translators are usually subject to non-disclosure agreements, potential risks for sensitive information leaking remain and often are viewed undesirable by business customers.
In addition, even an automated service, such as an automatic grammar checker or style checker, may create potential security leak under certain circumstances if the automated service has access to the full content of a message. For example, a substantial portion of the message may show up on a screen during the processing and a bystander may see that portion.